Joint venture to manage upgraded Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway
ASIA: An equally-owned binational joint venture is to be set up to manage the Azeri and Georgian sections of the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway once current upgrading works are completed.
Rosetta Stone of train data to boost performance honesty
UK: The ‘closet renationalisation’ of the passenger rail sector provides an opportunity for the industry to be more honest with passengers about real-world performance, according to Jonathan Raper, founder and CEO of TransportAPI.
Tsuruga joined to Shinkansen network
JAPAN: ‘Today’s opening will touch the hearts of many domestic and international users and move the future forward’ said JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa at the inauguration of the Kanazawa to Tsuruga extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.
Turkish elections bring rail plan announcements
TURKEY: Plans to develop inter-city and suburban rail lines have been announced by the government ahead of municipal elections on March 31.
World rail freight news round-up
News from the world rail freight market.
Facial recognition could remove the need for tickets
TICKETING: Belgian public transport ticket validator supplier Prodata Mobility has developed a proof of concept facial recognition system which could remove the need for passengers to carry a ticket or smart card.
Ticketing Hub launched to simplify ‘London-style’ integration
UK: Following an initial deployment on Transport for Wales Rail services, Unicard has announced the nationwide launch of its ticketing Hub platform which aims to simplify the implementation of contactless ticketing across modes and operators.
High speed rail bypass contract awarded
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Sacyr Construcción a €49m contract to build the first section of a 19 km bypass around the town of Loja on the Antequera – Granada high speed line.
Stadler to open Berlin train commissioning centre
GERMANY: Stadler is to establish a facility at Hennigsdorf near Berlin where it will commission rolling stock produced at its Berlin Pankow plant.
Further concerns raised about Dutch train operating contract
NETHERLANDS: The European Commission has sent a further letter of formal notice to the Netherlands, expressing concerns about the direct award of a contract for state-owned incumbent Nederlandse Spoorwegen to operate services on the designated core passenger network between January 1 2025 and December 24 2033.
Qbuzz orders CAF trainsets
GB Railfreight orders wagons to increase capacity
Railway supply industry news round-up
Rail freight service launched following Houthi attacks on shipping
Mallorca EMU delivered
Alstom and SLC plan to enter the open access passenger market
Decarbonisation: Accelerating the electrification task
Rail skills and innovation collaboration
Malmbanan iron ore railway reopens after derailments
Decarbonisation: Schleswig-Holstein pioneers a battery traction network
ScotRail trials Smart Kiosk ticket machine
PKP Intercity awards major contract for 200 km/h coaches
Domestic content boost for Ukrainian rolling stock
E500 electric locomotives delivered to Taiwan
Cubic demonstrates the future of station ticket gates
Hungarian consortium proposes Talgo takeover
New concourse in London Waterloo station vision
Battery tender for freight loco to be developed
World rail freight news round-up
Scheidt & Bachmann rethinks the ticket machine